Gloominess +2: Congregation. A LitRPG series: Book 2

by Elian Tars

  The chief supported my decision, but he didn’t shy away from addressing a couple of organizational issues. Having resolved them, I told everyone to finish their meals and go train. I went home, feeling that I had some unfinished business to attend to.

  “You are pretty clever, Daerk-gan,” spoke a familiar voice when I entered the house. “Or should I call you Senior Disciple-gan? Or maybe Gleam-gan? Bale-gan? Bon-gan?”

  “I’m sorry, ‘gan’?” I asked without taking my eyes off the girl who was sitting at the table. Despite the darkness, I could see her clearly thanks to Eyes in the Dark. She obviously saw me as well as I did her. After what I heard from her, I wasn’t surprised anymore.

  “It’s kind of a friendly polite addressing,” she explained off-handedly. “Well, come in, sit down,” Rira pointed at the chair in front of her. I accepted the invitation and sat propping my chin on my hand. “You’re straining yourself, Gleam-gan,” the girl chuckled, reclining on the chair. “On one hand, that’s the right thing to do, but on the other, it’s very harmful.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked briefly, trying to understand who exactly was sitting before me.

  “Well, for example, this lady,” she ran her hand over her breasts and stomach. “You were overly cautious, Gleam-gan. She’s really a simple girl. And her body and soul are drawn to you. But you found her behavior suspicious and avoided her attention in every possible way. As a result of your actions, a seed of doubt planted itself in her soul, in the world around her, and in you. She started over thinking, worrying and getting angry. She became vulnerable. It’s easy to take control of people who lack self-confidence. Without second thought, she bought my experimental Mental Control Potion, which was sold by one of my Followers as an Elixir of Increasing Attractiveness. I’m sure you know what happened next… Rira drank the entire thing, hoping that she would win you over. However, all she did was provide me with an opportunity to control her body, read her thoughts and memories. And all your precautionary measures burst at their seams. Ironic, isn’t it, Gleam-gan? The merchants that came to Ilyenta couldn’t find out what happened here. Now that was phenomenal! The villagers were so impressed by you and your God of Darkness that they kept their mouths shut. But because of your own cautiousness, your entire protection system went down the drain,” she ran her hand over her breasts and stomach again, indicating the person responsible for everything.

  “So you’re saying that nobody told Tayon and his caravan about the battle with the Decayed and about our Patron?” I asked as calmly as I could. My companion nodded. “Well, I’m glad. I didn’t expect such loyalty from the villagers.”

  “I know,” Rira nodded. “You are rather distrustful and suspicious of everything. Although, such a character is perfect for fulfilling the mission that was imposed on you.”

  “Do you know why I am here, in this world?” I frowned. Noticing me holding my breath, Rira chuckled.

  “Of course, that’s obvious. But if you haven’t been told yet, than it’s not up to me to reveal the secret.”

  “Why are you here then? Why would a God, the cleverest one of them all, come to a godforsaken village using something so perverse?”

  Rira chuckled again.

  “So you guessed? That was easy. Had you not figured who I am, I would have doubted whether it was worth continuing our conversation or not. Don’t mention me being the “cleverest one” in the presence of the other Gods. They’ve got a complex about it. You can call me by my name.”

  “As you wish, Glozeysk. What do you want from my humble person?”

  Chapter 27

  Glozeysk

  The God of Knowledge, Glozeysk. According to the Small Encyclopedia he practically never left his laboratory in the center of the city of Glozeysk, situated on Glozeysk Island in the north part of Longoria.

  Sometimes he was called the God of Commerce, because his city was a powerful trading center that sold goods, developed personally by the God and produced under his personal control, all over the world.

  Direct participation in people’s lives was what distinguished their Patron from the other Gods. Aside from being immortal and partly a hermit, it could be said that he was living the life of a usual man.

  And such a person was sitting in front of me now. Well, it was still Rira, there was no God in her; if I attacked now I would be fighting a weak girl unable to use divine powers. Why I was so sure? God’s auras negatively affected my HP, but during our conversation I hadn’t lost a single point of it.

  So how should I treat my guest? How exactly did a Mental Control Potion work? Was it just telepathy? Most likely, it did the same thing Kane and his zombies did.

  “Do you have any suggestions, Gleam-gan?” the God flicked the hair from Rira’s forehead back casually, as if he had spent all his life in her body.

  Actually, I had a lot of suggestions, but I felt like it would be stupid to say them aloud.

  “None,” I said calmly and added: “I have no idea why you are so interested in me.”

  His lips stretched into a satisfied smile.

  “Good boy. I like you, Gleam-gan. I even feel a bit jealous of your God of Darkness. I like, you know, curious specimens. But let’s leave the pleasantries aside and get down to business. The last few months were very difficult for us Gods, Gleam-gan. At first, the speed of Decay’s spreading was so high that it even left me surprised. Then some of us started to notice that Rugus was behaving strangely. Goatee was looking for something, sniffing out things, trying to cover his actions, but he didn’t manage to do it. And then it was found out that his Followers have a charged Part of Zurtarn! Just think about it, after destroying Zurtarn, Rheingeit scattered the useless shards all over the world. Even for him, the God of all Kings, it wouldn’t be easy to find them all and put the artifact back together. It’s an empty, lifeless artifact, Gleam-gan. But someone managed to find at least one of the parts, bring it to a place of power and then, when it was charged, take it back. And though Rugus was acting through his Followers that doesn’t diminish his involvement. My fellow Gods were furious when they realized what a tremendous scam was being carried out behind their backs.”

  “But you weren’t?” I asked, trying to keep a straight face. It isn’t every day you are so easily and offhandedly told tons of new and important information.

  “Of course, I knew,” Glozeysk chuckled. “Do you really think I wouldn’t know what he was up to?”

  “And still, you didn’t turn him in? Unlike the other Gods, you aren’t interested in finding the parts of Zurtarn?”

  “Maybe I’m not,” he shrugged indefinably.

  “But that still doesn’t explain why you need me,” I kept returning to that question, though I was pretty sure that I knew what Glozeysk was driving at.

  “Really?” he pretended to be surprised. “I think it’s obvious that Rugus and his Followers are being hunted all around the world. Those who are the slightest bit significant and are still alive are either keeping a low profile, or hiding in his Abode. He has Disciples, mostly barons and mayors, who are reinforcing their towns and castles. People of lower ranks have already been divided between my fellow Gods. You know, there’s no sense in destroying a congregation. There are enough idiots among the Gods, but biting the hand that feeds you… Even Aerida and Karus wouldn’t do something that stupid.”

  “But I am not a Follower of Rugus, right? What do I have to do with this?”

  Glozeysk gritted his teeth and shook his head.

  “A slight digression, Gleam-gan. I like your method of getting information, but you’re too obvious in your intentions. But let’s pretend that I didn’t see that and I’m dancing to your tune. Let’s keep educating the kids: it’s pretty difficult for Gods to get into the common Follower’s head and rummage through their memories; a connection with such people is weaker than with Disciples and, what’s more, with Gleams. But it doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. I see that you want to object, saying that you’ve met Followers
of different Gods. So I’ll remind you, a lot of my God friends are now allied against Rugus. Though unwillingly, but they share information with each other.”

  If I understood it correctly, other Gods could, through observing Rugus’s activity, watch the “recordings” of his Followers’ fights? So they saw our first fight with Tsunter’s people, when Dina and Mayor Elliot were killed, and the second, after which I parted with Berg. I was also in the memories of those who were present there, and it seemed like my unusual skills drew their attention.

  “I see you understand that my fellow-Gods are interested in you,” Glozeysk continued. “They scratched their heads in puzzlement, wondering what powers you were using. You still can’t feel energy that flows through the memories of common people. And they didn’t want to believe in the worst possible scenario. Until Karus told us some very interesting news, an unknown duo, calling themselves Daerk and Kane, and a strange creature, Mara, were able to destroy a horde of Decayed and save a village from certain doom. Healissa remembered Kane and reluctantly told us a story about a man who rejected her. Not because of some other God, but on his own volition. Incredible!

  Glozeysk shook his head again and stared at me, waiting for my reaction. Well, he made it clear that I should stop pretending to be a fool.

  “So you’ve come here to warn me that I have been looked for, right?” the God and nodded approvingly. “And you did it in such a twisted way because…” I faltered for a second looking for a right word. “Because you didn’t want to leave a trail?” there was another nod. “And you also wanted to know what I would do with the Lake of Grace,” I firmly said. “You wanted to check whether I was going to leave it or not.”

  Glozeysk’s eyes immediately became cold and serious. All his centuries of life experience hit me again, trying to press me into the back of the chair. I stood my ground and squinted unkindly.

  “I think you understand that the Gods are afraid of both the Zurtarn and the appearance of your Patron, his Gleam and Disciples. But once they find out that you managed to restore the energy source that will be the third reason for their exasperation.” For a moment he fell into a muse, rubbed his chin and smacked his lips. “Or the forth? I think it’s the third… Whatever! The point is that they are gathering a large group of their Followers against you. By the way, thank you for introducing Kane to Karus, kudos to you. You bought the village some time.”

  Glozeysk got serious again and frowned, his eyes became like two menacing lines. “But that’s not enough,” he sighed heavily and scratched his neck. “Even with the help of the Followers of Rugus you won’t be able to win. The Lake will be captured and destroyed, and the remains of it will soon be consumed by Decay.”

  I hung upon his every word and analyzed them at the same time. Understanding the scale of the upcoming disaster, I couldn’t find a way to solve the problem.

  I still tried to keep a straight face, but I didn’t notice how I clenched my fists till my knuckles turned white.

  “Relax, Gleam-gan,” the God of Knowledge winked at me. “Without me, you will all die like dogs or scuttle, with your tails tucked between your legs. I’m going to help you win.”

  “You’ll be fighting on our side?” I asked without hiding my skepticism.

  “What are you talking about? Don’t be ridiculous!” Glozeysk threw up his hands. “Victory is reaching one’s goal. This doesn’t necessarily have to be accompanied by destroying one’s enemy. In our case, the goal is to keep alive your Patron and as many Followers of Rugus as possible, and, of course, to save the Lake of Grace. Doing that without a shaman is impossible. A shaman won’t be able to appear by themselves in such a short period of time. But I can speed up this process.”

  A shaman… the source… The image of the giant decayed Tree Frog, from whose stomach I got the sac, appeared in my head. But something wasn’t adding up…

  “A shaman alone is not enough to stand against the Decay,” I said coldly.

  “That’s true,” Glozeysk agreed at once. “A simple shaman can’t protect the source form Decay. It has to be the chosen one. A shaman with a capital “S”, who receives the Blessing of the Ancient once a year. Will you give it, God of Darkness?” my companion asked calmly, looking me in the eyes.

  Tell him I will, boy, the Old Man’s voice sounded in my head. As it was expected, he kept a watchful eye on our conversation.

  “He will.”

  “That’s great,” the God of Knowledge clapped his hands. “It will take me three days. If you are lucky, nothing will happen during that time. But I wouldn’t count on such a silly coincidence. And now I have to go. It was a pleasure to meet you, Gleam-gan,” he waved his hand and in a second Rira’s expression changed drastically.

  “Sir Senior Disciple?” she mumbled, looking around with astonishment. “I am… At your house? Why...? I’m glad, of course… But what happened?”

  “Do you really remember nothing?” The girl shook her head. Suddenly, somebody knocked at the door and she jumped up like a scared sparrow.

  “Daerk? You’re with someone?” Kane asked. The necromancer’s voice was a bit confused. “Sorry, I’ll come later.”

  I wondered what made him so anxious that he knocked first and then, having felt Rira’s energy, backed up.

  “Come in!” I shouted and, coming to the door, unlatched it.

  Of course, he was with Mara. Through the doorway the necromancer and the zombie saw the girl and frowned at once.

  “What have you two been doing here?” Mara asked with strain.

  I didn’t give an immediate answer, watching Kane. The guy stared at Rira for a few seconds and then gave a satisfactory nod.

  “It’s all good now,” he said firmly and turned to me. For a few moments he studied my face and then said: “Your guest was bothering me during dinner. She seemed normal, but something was off about her. I couldn’t understand what it was and it worried me even more. A few minutes ago I realized that her energy flow was a little bit out off. It’s fine now, and she is with you. Won’t you tell us what happened?”

  “I will,” I nodded and turned to Rira, thinking whether she should know that her body could be used like a ventriloquist puppet at any time.

  I decided that she should. Better that she knows than to live with holes in her memory, going crazy in wait for another “seizure”. For her sake I had to exaggerate her role. In my version of events she wasn’t just a talking puppet, but an important link in the allied relationship between the God of Darkness and the God of Knowledge. A medium of the Gods.

  “So that’s what it is,” Kane said melancholically when had I finished my story.

  “So there’s going to be a nice brawl?” Mara bared her teeth in a predatory smile. “A chance to face the Gods and kick their assess… What could be better than that?!”

  “Okay, let’s continue this conversation tomorrow,” Kane fondly put his hand on Mara’s shoulder, immediately calming down her combative mood. “We’d better go now. Good night, Daerk, Rira.” Standing up, he took Mara’s hand and led her to the exit.

  “Have a good time, lovebirds,” she chuckled and walked out the door with her Master of Death.

  So they left me alone with the village girl. What a reasonable decision.

  “Rira,” I spoke first. “Do you understand that everything you heard here is a secret?”

  The girl froze and seemed puzzled for a few seconds. But then she nodded decisively.

  “Thanks to you, Glozeysk can come to Ilyenta without disclosing his presence to the other Gods. I trust every person in this village, but our enemy is watching. A spy that could overhear our conversations and find out about our relations with Glozeysk could pass by unnoticed. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Senior Disciple,” the girl whispered quietly. “I won’t say anything.”

  “All right then,” I smiled approvingly and pat her hair. “And now you should go home. You had a rough day, you should have some rest. And don’t forget to pray to
our Patron before bed.”

  Chapter 28

  Last Days

  The next morning before the training, when half of the village gathered around me, Rira came to me and apologized for her inappropriate behavior during dinner. The girl bowed and said that she was wrong, that she and “our Patron” were great and that Ilyenta owed us its life.

  The villagers were impressed with the unexpected performance. However, all I wanted to do was to curse. It was the God of Knowledge who spoke through the girl’s mouth. At first, he, for the sake of some stupid test of his, threw people off balance and was now kind of trying to calm them down. I really wanted to believe that he would be able to do it, mostly because Shawn recently told me that some idiots are thinking about becoming brigands.

  However, after Rira/Glozeysk’s demonstrative apology nobody dared to express their dissatisfaction in public.